JumpPost.com - Earn money while renting out your apartment!

So I am up in the air about this site.  Jumppost.com

Get $500 if you rent out your apartment through Jumppost.com. 

I can't really tell if it will work or not.  Basically the premise is - let's get rid of brokers!

While I like that idea, I just don't know if I want to become my own broker.  I tried out this site last year when I wanted to move into a better apartment and needed to break my lease.  I ended up posting my apartment and then had to play broker by scheduling appointments to show the place to prospective tenants.  Plus sell the place to them.

1. I hated scheduling the meetings.  Plus - how do you know if it's a psycho coming over?  I always kept my door open and told my neighbors
   
2. I had to kind of lie to them and say the apartment was great, when it really wasn't.  After all, the whole point was I wanted out.
   
3. I don't even think my scumbag landlord would have gone for the deal anyhow!

I ended up abandoning ship and just telling the landlord I wanted to leave.  He contacted his "exclusive" broker who did the lying for me and I was all set. 

Sometimes you don't want to do the dirty work.  And that's when a broker comes in handy.  Plus for people looking for an apartment, honestly the site just doesn't have enough inventory for it to really be useful.

Also I have to remind myself -landlords and brokers are very intertwined.  When the middleman is in bed with the boss, it's kind of hard to get rid of them.

Why isn't there a Yelp for apartment buildings?

Don't you wish you could know what it's like to live in a certain apartment or building before you rent it?  One way is to talk to current tenants - but most of the time the current tenant isn't going to be truthful to you.  Especially if he/she is wanting to break their lease early and that's why they are showing you the place!  Don't believe those stories about moving across the country - most likely they are trying to escape a bad apt situation!

At least that's what I was doing!

I hear so many people who say "I wish I had known the apt would be so hot in the summer before I rented it."  Or "I wish I had known the super would be useless before I rented it."  Or "I wish I had known the landlord is a drug lord before I rented it.  Or "I wish I had known the hot water never works before I rented it."

Why isn't there a community site like Yelp where users can comment and rate their former apartments?  Wouldn't that be useful in NY?  Or would that be so discouraging to people that no one would ever move here again??

Broker Fee or No Broker Fee?

So most people assume that brokers fees are pointless and in the days of craigslist and other countless resources, why would you ever use a broker?

Well, I agree that hiring a broker to find you an apartment may not be the wisest move.  However, do keep in mind when searching on craigslist that some apartments work exclusively with brokers and they are the gatekeeper.

This could be perhaps because the apartment is owner -rented (maybe they want to ensure quality tenants and go through a broker?) or simply do not want to deal with showing the apartment themselves.  What I have found is that whether you pay a broker fee or not - usually a "No Fee apartment" accounts for some kind of broker fee within the rent.

I've found the quality of apartments are much higher often when accompanied by a broker fee.  And do remember a broker fee is a one-time event.  So while it is amortized into your rent the first year (that's how I would calculate it) - for every year you live in the unit after that initial year, you could look at it as reduced rent....

Just keep in mind - "No Fee" doesn't necessarily mean it is a better deal.....

Craigslist Postings - How do we read between the lines?

So even though I know that a lot of the Craigslist postings are garbage, I am going to try to select the few each day that I think might be worth checking out....

We'll see how this goes!